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March 21, 2007

Lee Academy Bomb Scare Ends in Suspensions, Arrests

by Sam Savage

By Nick Sambides Jr., Bangor Daily News, Maine

Mar. 21--LEE -- What started as a prank grew to criminal proportions Wednesday when police charged two Lee Academy students with writing a bomb threat on a school wall that forced school officials to lock down the campus.

After the threat was discovered, three bomb-sniffing dogs and their police handlers searched the private school's campus late Tuesday afternoon, and the school's 230 students were marched past a police dog Wednesday, Headmaster Bruce Lindberg said.

No bomb or suspicious materials were found.

The boy and girl, who are in-state residents and juniors, were suspended indefinitely by school officials and released to their parents' custody after as many as 30 students identified them. Charges against them were not immediately available Wednesday afternoon. Their names were withheld because they are juveniles.

"What's sad is that both students said it started out as a prank and got out of hand," Lindberg said Wednesday. "They probably wanted the day off. I don't know. My guess is that both of them are troubled ... It would only be speculation as to why they did it."

Lindberg will make a preliminary report to the Lee Academy board of directors when it meets April 2, he said. Possible disciplinary measures against them include long-term suspension or expulsion.